The present invention relates in general to an apple orienting device and, more particularly, to a device capable of orienting elongated apples.
The general purpose of an apple orienting apparatus is to position each apple so that it is at rest with its core extending vertically and with the stem end either up or down. In this position, the apple can be effectively transferred to a machine for peeling and coring such as is shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,586,081 and 3,586,151.
It is known in the prior art to provide an apple orientor having a plurality of receptacles, each with an eccentrically rotating wheel located in the bottom of the cup as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,746,001 and 4,169,528. It is also known in the prior art to provide spring loaded wire fingers such as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,586,081, 3,738,474 and 4,746,001.
It is also known in the prior art to provide a large diameter wheel which extends upwardly above the receptacle to contact the side of the apple as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,169,528. It is also known in the prior art to provide a large wheel extending above the surface of the apple receptacle which contains protuberances which make contact with the side of an apple lying crosswise in the receptacle. Such an apparatus is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,746,001.
It is known in the prior art to provide rotating eccentric wheels in the bottom of each receptacle to aid in turning the apple to its desired orientation. In the intended rest position with the core extending vertically and with either the stem or the blossom end pointing downwardly, the stem or blossom indent is reached and the rotating eccentric wheel beneath the apple can no longer contact the apple and the apple remains in its vertically oriented position. The prior art systems have approached the problem of orienting elongated apples, but those prior art systems nevertheless have considerable room for improvement. For example, the fingers used in some prior art orienting systems must be constantly adjusted to avoid disorienting an already oriented apple. The use of larger wheels extending above the receptacle does not contact longer apples sufficiently to turn them as effectively as the present invention.